Why can '=' be used for C structure assignment?

Why can '=' be used for C structure assignment?

When it comes to C programming, the '=' operator is widely used for variable assignment. However, you might be surprised to learn that it can also be used for assigning values to C structures. In this article, we will explore why the '=' operator can be used for C structure assignment and how it works.

In C, structures are used to group related data together. They allow you to define your own data types, combining different variables of different types into a single entity. To assign values to a structure, you can make use of the '=' operator, just like you would for assigning values to variables.

When you use the '=' operator for structure assignment, it copies the contents of one structure into another. This means that all the members of the source structure are copied to the corresponding members of the destination structure. It's important to note that this is a shallow copy, meaning that if your structure contains pointers or dynamically allocated memory, only the addresses will be copied, not the actual data.

Let's take a look at an example to better understand how structure assignment works:

    struct Person {
        char name[50];
        int age;
    };

    int main() {
        struct Person person1;
        struct Person person2;

        strcpy(person1.name, "John Doe");
        person1.age = 30;

        person2 = person1; // Structure assignment

        printf("Name: %s
", person2.name);
        printf("Age: %d
", person2.age);

        return 0;
    }

In this example, we have defined a structure called 'Person' with two members: 'name' and 'age'. We create two instances of this structure, 'person1' and 'person2'. Using the '=' operator, we assign the values of 'person1' to 'person2'. As a result, 'person2' now contains the same values as 'person1'.

Using the '=' operator for structure assignment can be quite convenient, especially when dealing with complex data structures. It allows you to easily copy the contents of one structure to another without having to manually copy each member. However, it's worth noting that if you have structures with dynamically allocated memory, you should implement a custom assignment function to ensure proper memory management.

So, next time you need to assign values to a C structure, don't forget that the '=' operator can come to the rescue, making your code more concise and readable.

References:

• Learn C - Structs
• GeeksforGeeks - Structure Member Alignment, Padding, and Data Packing